Weird Science Stockings

From a laboratory in North Carolina to a research center in Wilmington, Del., teams of scientists are hunkered down trying to solve one of fashion's greatest mysteries: how to get women to wear pantyhose again.

In their latest bid to revive the sagging hosiery business, makers are turning to science and trotting out nylons and tights that seem more likely to show up at science fairs than on the runways of Paris or Milan. Capezio says its "microcapsules" filled with aloe -- scented with a hint of lavender -- burst...